More than 10 civilians were injured in Saudi Arabia on Thursday when Yemen's Houthi rebels launched attacks on the southern region of Najran, near the Yemeni border. Among the wounded was a 4-year-old child. The strikes came hours after the Iran-backed rebels claimed responsibility for another series of attacks in central and eastern Yemen that killed at least 30 government troops and wounded at least 50 others, marking a major escalation since a truce four years ago largely halted fighting.
Turki al-Malki, a spokesman for the Saudi military, said the attack wounded seven Saudi nationals, one Yemeni, two Egyptians and one Pakistani expatriate. The back-to-back assaults underscored the fragility of a civil war that's been grinding on since the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen twelve years ago. The Saudi-led coalition intervened the following year. A Houthi leader said Saudi-backed troops were targeted in the attacks and that "hundreds" were either killed or injured. Yemeni officials said the assaults hit camps for forces of the internationally recognized government in the provinces of Marib and Hadramout. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to the media.
Lebanon's Fragile Ceasefire Cracks
Two Israeli soldiers were killed and another four were seriously wounded in an explosion in southern Lebanon, the Israeli military said Thursday. The deaths were Israel's first since a shaky truce was implemented same year between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The Israeli army launched strikes Wednesday in southern Lebanon in response to what it described as Hezbollah's violation of the ceasefire and issued a call for residents of another village to flee, the first such warning Israel had issued in weeks.
The escalation came as Lebanese and Israeli negotiators met in Rome to discuss implementation of the June deal under which Israeli forces are supposed to withdraw from areas they occupy in southern Lebanon in exchange for Hezbollah's disarmament. The deaths of Israeli soldiers and the displacement warnings to Lebanese civilians illustrate how quickly diplomatic frameworks collapse when armed groups on both sides test the boundaries of fragile agreements.
The Strait of Hormuz and Global Energy Security
Iran said it was in the final stage of drafting an agreement on the Strait of Hormuz with Oman, even as the waterway remains crucial to global shipping and energy supplies. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said Wednesday that an agreement on the Strait of Hormuz with Oman, which lies on the other side of the waterway, was in the "final stage" of drafting. He said a joint statement would be issued "if certain parties do not obstruct this process," apparently referring to the U.S. The agreement is likely to depend on the U.S. lifting its blockade on Iran's ports.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly, said Thursday that any temporary routes through the Strait of Hormuz wouldn't have impediments such as approvals, permissions, tolls or charges. Asked Thursday if a deal had been reached with Iran to reopen the vital waterway, U.S. President Donald Trump said he didn't want to say. "It has been sort of open right now," he told reporters in the Oval Office.
Before the war, which began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran in February same year, about one-fifth of the world's traded oil and natural gas passed through the waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. Maritime data company Lloyd's List Intelligence said at least two ships were hit in the Strait of Hormuz in the past week, while several others reported near misses or warnings from entities claiming to represent Iran's Revolutionary Guard. The company said Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels continued to claim attacks on ships in the Red Sea, though those claims couldn't be independently verified. Vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz increased to 84 transits during the week of July 27 to Aug. 2, up from 45 the previous week, but traffic was still far below the more than 700 transits seen in a typical week before the crisis.
Iraq's Struggle for State Control
Iraq said Thursday that any armed activity outside state authority after Sept. 30 would be prosecuted under the country's Anti-Terrorism Law, in a push to bring all weapons under government control. Several powerful, Iran-backed armed factions rejected calls to surrender weapons or dissolve their organizations, saying they remained committed to the "option of resistance." Saudi Arabia and the U.S. launched strikes on Iraq last week after Riyadh accused Iraqi militias of using drones to attack its oil facilities. The retaliatory strikes in Iraq hit bases of the Popular Mobilization Forces, a collection of armed groups close to Iran that are officially part of Iraq's security forces but often operate outside state control.
The Iraqi government's attempt to consolidate control over armed groups reflects a broader regional pattern: states struggling to assert sovereignty while non-state actors backed by Iran pursue their own agendas, often at the expense of civilian populations caught in the crossfire.
Gaza Stabilization Force Stalls
Ugandan authorities won parliamentary approval Thursday to deploy troops as part of the International Stabilization Force for Gaza. The 20,000-strong force, proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump's Board of Peace in February to ensure "future prosperity and enduring peace," hasn't yet materialized. Several other countries pledged troops to the mission, including Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Albania and Indonesia, which has since put its commitment of troops on indefinite hold. The Gaza ceasefire has stalled, as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this week that Israel wouldn't withdraw from its current lines in Gaza until Hamas had completely disarmed.
Why This Matters:
The attacks in Yemen and Lebanon, the ongoing uncertainty over the Strait of Hormuz, and the stalled Gaza ceasefire reveal a region where diplomatic frameworks are collapsing faster than they can be rebuilt. Civilians are paying the price: a 4-year-old wounded in Saudi Arabia, families displaced in southern Lebanon, government troops killed in Yemen, and ships attacked in vital waterways. The failure to enforce ceasefires or stabilize Gaza demonstrates the gap between international commitments and their implementation on the ground. Without credible enforcement mechanisms and accountability for violations by all parties, these agreements become little more than pauses between rounds of violence. The human cost of this cycle — measured in injuries, deaths, and disrupted lives — continues to mount while the international community issues statements but lacks the will to impose consequences.